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That row of numbers on a book’s copyright page is
called the
printer’s key
and tells you whether you’re holding a first edition or fourth or what.
First editions look like this:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

… and each time the publisher goes back to the presses for
a reprinting, they delete a number. So this:

5 6 7 8 9 10

… is a fifth printing of that edition.

This isn’t really a secret. I just thought that was a funny blog title. But reprintings are great, because they mean the book sold more than
the publisher’s worst fears. It’s a constant source of joy
to me that while the Syrup hardcover was
such a commercial disaster that you can more easily find
remaindered
copies than real ones, the paperback keeps getting
reprinted, fourteen years on. Last month, I flipped to a Syrup
copyright page and saw this:

I don’t care if they are running off eight books at a time; that’s
awesome. It’s so sad when a book goes out of print. It’s like a little
death. I hope e-books will save authors from those.

Also, Syrup just got itself a movie tie-in edition!
As a reader, I’ve always disdained movie tie-in editions. I’m all,
“If I wanted to see the movie, I would, like, see it.”
But as an
author, it makes me stupidly happy. I mean, movie tie-in edition.
Who wouldn’t want one of those. And I’ve never really loved the existing
Syrup covers. I don’t hate them. But I don’t love them.
The US paperback
in particular looks to me like an ironic comment on
marketing, only without the ironic part.

Plus, these will make excellent gifts for people who have no intention of
reading the book but will be impressed by the fact that it’s a movie.

Chemical Rascal (#3964)

That said, my copy of "The Art of War" by Penguin (which is to say that Penguin published it - Sun-Tzu was not (a) penguin) has the same thing. Perhaps some printer, at some point, got bored and thought "Haha, fuck simplicity, segregating odd and even numbers is cool and is also a subtle commentary of pre-civil-rights-America!".

Max

According to the Wikipedia article, the reason sometimes publishers do it like this:

2 4 6 8 10 9 7 5 3 1

... is because the line remains centered as you remove numbers. Probably less useful in modern days, when layouts are not managed by oil-soaked press men but rather by intelligent murderous robots (I assume).

And the reason they delete numbers rather than write "THIRD PRINTING" is apparently because they think printers are too incompetent to handle that level of sophistication.

I don't know why they often go backward from 10.

Stygian Emperor (#2947)

Location: the Stygian EmpireQuote: "Flesh is a design flaw."Posted: 2017 days ago

The only Syrup cover in the US I liked was the audiobook one with the straw. Sadly on Audible the little thumbnail I got in the app is the troll glasses guy peeking over the soda.

Todd (#3429)

Location: New YorkQuote: "It's fun to have fun but you have to know how."Posted: 2016 days ago

Brittany O. (#1688)

Seriously. I had to go check all my books for which edition I have. Firsts on all of yours except my "Syrup" paperback (8th) but my hardcover is a first so I am okay with that. Could they please make Machine Man a hardback. I have the whole collection in hardback and that one is lonely...

@Brittany:> Could they please make Machine Man a hardback. Someone on Twitter pointed me at a Machine Man hardcover that was a special edition for some reason... book club? Not sure. I don't think you can find one unless you stumble across it at a second-hand bookstore though.

Tor Lumiere Marie (#6526)

Location: Liverpool, UKPosted: 1864 days ago

I watched the Syrup movie last night and thought it was brilliant, I can't believe it only got 18% on Rotten Tomatoes. Anyway, I was wondering if you know about the UK brand of energy drinks, Pussy? They say the brand was inspired by Virgin Media but I can't help but notice a hell of a lot of parallels with Syrup.